All That Mattered
by ExtinctionOfReality
Summary: ZoSan Demon AU Summary: Sanji is an old, lonely human, whose life didn't go as well as he would have liked. And one day, he is approached by a demon - Zoro...


**Summary:** Sanji is an old, lonely human, whose life didn't go as well as he would have liked. And one day, he is approached by a demon - Zoro...

**Rating:** G

**Pairing:** ZoSan

**Warnings:** weirdness/abstractness, a tiny bit of swearing and rudeness, maybe OOC-ness

**Author's notes:** this little (not so little to me) oneshot is dedicated to _**roroxp17**_, based on a prompt described in this fic. Deary, I hope you will have at least a bit of fun reading it! It was interesting to write. XD Sorry it's not NC-17 though, haha.

This fic was a bit inspired by a TV series called Supernatural. I couldn't help it, since I was watching Supernatural at the time I started writing this, so by the time I was done, it was too late to change anything. Hope no one minds.

**Disclaimer:** don't own One Piece.

_**All That Mattered**_

It was evening time and Sanji let out a heavy sigh as he sat down on a bench in the park, leaning back and relaxing his muscles, enjoying some peace and quiet, listening to a few birds chirping, cars driving by in the distance, but that sound stopped bothering him a very long time ago.

In fact, he started welcoming any sound in his too quiet and lonely life. He was getting old and...of course, who needs old people? His lovely wife died years ago and his beautiful daughter, Marie, found herself a wonderful young man. He had a grandson, Enzo, too...but he didn't get to see him as much. They were that busy.

For an old guy like him, what was there left to do? He used to be so social, working full time at the local Baratie restaurant, known for its foreign cuisine and well-received by rich people. Sanji loved his job, he loved cooking more than anything...but now he had no one to cook for. His younger self would have been fairly disappointed if he found out this was what his elderly years would turn out like, because this wasn't how he imagined any of it.

He wanted for his home to always be lively...and that was what he was trying to bring out. This happened only once though... He cooked all sorts of delicious delicacies, happy out of his mind his daughter and her family were going to visit him. Sanji was so joyful he swore he could die on the spot...but they never came. Marie had to cancel it on account of some excuse.

Ever since then, four years passed...and they haven't visited him once. Sanji had to keep brushing up on his cooking skills or he would forget how to...since he didn't eat much, he didn't cook much for himself either. But it was hard...hard to not have anyone to cook for.

So he decided to brighten up his life a bit and bring all of the food he cooked to the kids at the local orphanage. It took him a while to get access, and since some of the dishes were so exquisite-looking, he had to gain trust from the kids to try them. In the end, none disliked his cooking...and Sanji gained a bit of company. Although that didn't last long either. Times change, kids grow up...and soon he wasn't needed there as well.

His friends...Sanji used to have so many of them, but at this age... It's no wonder half of them were either dead, in the hospital, abroad or stuck in their homes. He tried visiting every single one of them, but...he only got a cold shoulder too. The other half of his friends simply stopped contacting him...and he didn't want to be a bother.

Sometimes, the used-to-be-blond wondered if he was cursed. Cursed into the life of loneliness. It was odd, very much so...but more than that, it was also very painful. And that's what drove him to do what he did.

A week ago, an unusual event struck his eventless and pitiful existence. He was watching TV in the house in the middle of the night, when the lights and TV started flickering, a strange sound rising inside Sanji's ears so loud, he thought his eardrums were going to burst. Not sure about what was going on, he covered his ears hard and waited for the sound to go away. At the same time, the light bulbs burst over him as he bent over on the floor, desperate for the sound to stop and not sure what to do... And as soon as he couldn't bare it anymore and screamed 'stop' - it stopped. The sound was gone in seconds as if it was never there...the TV was back on. And Sanji would have thought nothing happened and it was just his sick old imagination...but the lightbulb pieces were still scattered all over his back and the floor.

Confused about the things that happened and having no one to talk to about any of it unless he wanted to be thought of as crazy, Sanji turned to the internet. It took him a bit to figure out how to search for information, but he was greatly rewarded by what he found.

He wasn't the only person this happened to and as it seems...

Turns out, an angel visited him.

It was the first time his home was visited by anyone in a long time.

He wasn't that crazy though. Never religious and believing in angels..? That wasn't going to happen...

And he wouldn't have believed any of it...he would much rather think of it as "crazy weather"...

But he never expected what this seemingly insignificant event would trigger.

"What a sorry sight..."

Sanji, sitting on his usual bench in the park, practically jumped out of his seat when he saw a person standing beside him. Green hair, casual clothes that didn't stand out much...unlike the three golden earrings on his left ear. The man was tall and looked like he was in his mid-20s...

There was no problem with his appearance really...except that he had unusually darker than normal eyes, a smug expression on his face and hands shoved in his pockets.

The elderly man moved his lips, his voice a bit hoarse from not using it all that much, "Can I help you with something?"

The man snorted and the side of his lips twitched upwards in a larger smirk, "Yes you can, little one," he took a few steps towards the other, "I want you to strike a deal with me."

Little one..? Strike a deal..?

Sanji blinked confused. This person was probably a druggie or something. It's better to just ignore such people, so Sanji turned away, hoping maybe this would give the other an idea and he would leave, but the man was persistent and sat down near him, looking up at the sky.

"I know about your loneliness," he looked at Sanji while he continued pretending to ignore the other although his eyes couldn't help but widen a bit when he heard that. How did he-?! "And I want to help you."

Slowly, Sanji turned his head to meet dark eyes...and a smile that looked non-threatening for the most part, safe for the fact it turned into a smirk seconds after, "Interested?"

The old man blinked...and shook his head, "Who are you exactly..?"

The younger-looking man snorted, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you...not yet anyway, San~ji~" he all but sang each syllable, "So just call me Zoro, for now."

Blue eyes blinked. Sanji wasn't asking for a name, but rather what this person's intentions were, but he decided not to bother with it...for now, "So...how is it that you are going to help me, Zoro-san?"

"Just Zoro is fine...considering we are going to have such a looong lasting relationship," Zoro smiled widely, leaning back against the bench in a relaxing manner, taking a deep breath, "Ah, such a fresh air in comparison to the pit," he was amused at his own words and that showed on his face, then he turned again to look at Sanji, who was still contemplating whether this man was on drugs or not, "It's simple really, a fair exchange. You make a contract with me and I give you what you want."

Sanji stared, then sighed and shook his head. Why was he even going with this bullshit in the first place..? Fingering for a cigarette, he had to stop and realize he had none on him, since he stopped smoking years ago. It was really hard to drop his heavy habit since a very young age, but he had no choice if he wanted to survive longer...not that he saw much of a reason to, but hey...life is life and he wasn't about to end it on his own accord. Well, his body still remembered this habit anyway, because some of them just die hard.

"Anything I want, eh..?" Sanji sighed again, "Assuming this makes sense... What do you want in exchange for that one wish?"

"Your soul."

"My...soul?" the elderly frowned, then blinked. This was getting weirder by the second.

Zoro shrugged, amused further by the entire talk, "You don't expect me to grant your deepest wish for free, do you?"

Of course not, "...when you say you want my 'soul'...what do you mean by that?" well, Sanji had to admit one thing: this is the longest conversation he had with anyone in the longest of times. Who cares if it didn't make sense or was a load of crap, it was far better than nothing no matter how you cut it.

"Basically, I want your spirit," Sanji raised a confused curly eyebrow at this so the man snickered a bit, "Alright, I will spill the beans now," and as soon as those words left the man's, who identified himself as Zoro, mouth, street lamps started flickering, catching Sanji's attention.

Wait...he has seen this somewhere before.

And the elder's blue eyes widened in realization as he slowly turned his head to look into dark eyes, "You are right little one," a pause, "You humans know me as the lord of hell. Pleasure to meet you."

Sanji was slightly frightened at this point, his entire body going numb and he would have probably had a heart or panic attack if two fingers didn't touch his forehead and calmed him, his body returning to normal functioning and he took deep, hungry breaths.

"This just now was a free gift from me," the devil snickered, leaning against his prompted hand.

Sanji caught his breath slowly, his mind racing too fast for any rational thought to appear, for anything at all, before it stopped abruptly and he raised questioning eyes at the other. He had no reason to believe this man wasn't who he claimed to be...after the stunt with his fingers just now. Sure, he could be a magician or something, but Sanji doubted it...maybe he had special healing powers, but would it ever work like that..?

Whoever this man was... Sanji would go with the flow. This was actually, strangely, kind of fun to him at the very least, "B-but I looked on the internet, that only angels could-"

"Who do you think I am...Sanji?" the man stared at the other longer, "I am an angel."

Oh yeah... A fallen angel. That made sense.

They spent a few moments longer looking at each other, smirk on Zoro's lips. Sanji looked deep into dark eyes, trying to read them, to see any indicator that this was some twisted joke.

Yet... He saw nothing. He couldn't read anything.

Because those eyes were completely dead.

He leaned back and looked up at a few stars on the night sky. By the end of it all, did he have anything to lose..? Not really. What was he going to gain..? Sanji looked at Zoro, who was smirking at him in total amusement still (at least someone was having fun here), as if he knew how this was going to end.

And he probably did...right..?

Sanji was going to gain a companion, eh..? Maybe his useless soul was worth it.

"Ready with your answer yet?"

"You are really impatient...for someone who claims to be a devil."

Zoro tch'ed, crossing his arms, "I have places to go. And if this turns out to be a failed deal, it would mean I wasted precious time."

What he just said actually hit Sanji on a deep level and his heart ached a bit...waste of time...huh?

Well, he was right. In the end, this was only a deal to him to get his soul, nothing else. What was he going to do when-

"Hah, the human world is really fascinating," Sanji glanced at the other in time to see he was staring at busy streets. People were coming and going, as if a swarm of ants, despite it already being night time, minding their own business. Some laughing, others frowning in thought, third angry, fourth kissing, fifth...

And it finally hit Sanji. He had an idea.

And smiled tenderly himself.

"Alright, let's make that contract," that got Zoro's attention back and the man jumped to his feet.

"Splendid!" he looked down at the other, "So, who is it that you want for a companion till the end of your short lifespan?"

Sanji snickered, his eyes shining with joy, "You, Zoro."

The devil was stunned, you could see that by the way his shoulders tensed, amusement disappearing from his face...but then Sanji could assume it was his imagination, because the next second, his facial expression returned to normal, "As you wish, mortal."

And with that, the contract was formed...and with it, something completely new and pure.

A bond.

For the rest of the years that followed, the devil and a human became great friends. They spent every single day together without fail. Sanji showed Zoro how amazing the human world was and Zoro in turn provided Sanji with what he was missing terribly - companionship. In the end, both gained something for themselves...although until the very end, the devil kept on laughing at the idea of getting too attached to one particular human.

"Why did you assume this form..?" Sanji asked at one point as he pulled a plate in front of the other. This was his greatest joy; he finally had someone to cook for again.

"Hn..." Zoro would stare at the plate for nearly a second before digging in. He never admitted it of course, but he truly loved the old man's food, "Why? You don't like it?"

"No, I mean..." Sanji sat down in front of the other, "I always thought a demon...or an angel, doesn't matter, would look-"

"What? You expected horns and wings?" the devil asked through a mouthful and Sanji after staring for a bit, nodded slowly.

"You look absolutely..." the elderly wasn't sure if saying this was a right idea, but he did it anyway, "...human."

Zoro paused midway into chewing, looking at Sanji with a normal expression on his face before resuming, "I assumed this form to blend in and be able to walk within the human realm," he drank from a bottle of beer, Sanji watching him eat without eating himself, "So of course I would look human, dumbass. This is a human form."

Sanji narrowed his eyes at the name-calling, "I also always thought a devil, an angel or whatever, had a more delicate way of speech."

Zoro snorted and shrugged, finishing the food and holding the empty plate in front of Sanji, always a sign for seconds, "There are many things humans don't know about us, especially me," his eyes fell on blue and they looked at each other for a while before the old man grabbed the plate and went to get Zoro his seconds, "You misunderstand us..." with that...Sanji agreed completely, "And you are the only human who has never feared me for one second since we met."

Sanji smiled warmly at that.

And this was how their days continued.

"I think I like you..." Zoro would say at some point when they would make their way out of the cinema, Sanji's eyes widening greatly as he looked at the other, before smiling back.

"Well, I like you too."

"Not like that..." Zoro would stop, grab Sanji's shoulders, looking at him closely. Sanji in the meantime, for a few seconds of pause, noted the difference in their height...he was really old. Before, he would definitely have been at about that- "I like you, like a soul likes another soul."

He was talking about romantic feelings...wasn't he..? He was... Sanji gaped for a while, then laughed a bit finally shaking his head.

"What? You think demons are incapable of love..?" Zoro tilted his head.

"No...I just..." Sanji's eyes softened and he raised his old, wrinkled hands towards the other, to make a point, "How can you like...this..?"

The devil blinked, looking at Sanji's hands, taking them into his own, "I am much older than any of you humans...besides," he looked deeply into blue, as if he could see Sanji transparently, "I see nothing wrong with your soul."

Those were the most beautiful words Sanji has ever heard in his entire life, but at the same time...looking at things more realistically than the other, Sanji knew only of one thing...

They had a contract. And he was going to burn in hell for all eternity.

What kind of 'love' could there be..?

But...

When it was finally time and Zoro had to take away Sanji's soul to hell, the devil granted him a place by his side, unquestioningly. And now, all demons had to answer to a newcomer. No one was pleased with that...but the devil's word was everything. And it could never be disputed.

Sanji would forever remain in Zoro's heart. But it was too soon to say for Sanji's, especially now since he was made a demon...and had to deal with jealousy of his position from other demons.

But in the end, all of that was minor and unimportant...he got to spend the rest of his time under the being that saved him from loneliness and gave him life anew.

And that was all that mattered.

_**The End.**_


End file.
